OUR SCORE
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Artist: RED
Album: Innocence & Instinct
Label: Essential Records
Release Date: 2/10/09
Reviewer: Tyler Hess
Tracklisting:
1. Fight Inside
2. Death of Me
3. Mystery of You
4. Start Again
5. Never Be the Same
6. Confession (What’s Inside My Head)
7. Shadows
8. Ordinary World
9. Out From Under
10. Take It All Away
The first time I heard RED it was by way of their first hit single, “Breathe Into Me”, which was an excellent choice to get music fans into the band. However, it wasn’t too much later that I saw them at a local festival. I came with quite a bit of hope that the rest of the songs were just as epic. I left, instead, with the feeling that every song sounded the same, except without that spark. After that, I quite frankly gave up on the band. That is, of course, until I received Innocence & Instinct in the mail.
The influences have always been pretty apparent. RED simply plays a brand of rock that has several classifications, none of which are very well received. The nicest thing to call it is Linkin Park inspired Nu-Metal. It just gets ugly from there, with Nickelback Frat/Bro Rock that makes most scenesters cringe worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. RED would probably not be happy if I compared them to Creed with the occasional anthemic scream, but, well, there we go.
It isn’t that the lyrics aren’t memorable or catchy, because they quite simply are. Quite frankly, what they do they do pretty well and that is why they have reached some pretty elevated success over the past three years or so. The problem is that around here we usually expect a little more out of artists. They scream a variety of lyrics, but all I hear is “blah, blah, blah we’re generic”. I don’t use that word lightly, it is overused and overrated, but it comes out of my mouth like a flock of doves in this case. I’d have loved this stuff four years ago, but at this point in my life I’m more likely to have a difficult time staying awake while driving to this, especially during the rock ballads. At least that is the score so far. Nearly falling asleep – 1 Loving this album – 0. No, this isn’t soccer, its radio rock.
Overall: What you see is what you get with RED’s Innocence & Instinct, but a little bit of creativity would have been appreciated from this rock anthem quartet.
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| 03/19/2010 06:31 am | News
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Whoa! 4/10? for real? wow, I really thought this was an amazing follow-up to their debut cd…
HAHAHAHA!!!! I completely agree.
I’m with you linds4lif. But it seems to be a hit or miss album for most people.
Red=meh, well kinda
Actually if you read what our scoring system says about 4/10 then I guess I would agree but if I only look at the numbers 4/10 rings too low for me. This would be more like 7/10 for me.
As a side note, I think we should rethink our scoring explanations a bit. I don’t think they go very logically from lowest to the highest.
Wow, a 4/10?
Why so harsh?
Even Kristian Stanfill got a 6/10…
im gonna see these guys ar Red Letter Fest in a few weeks, looks like I have a lot to look forward too
Red would’ve been better if they came out 8 years ago with Linkin Park and Breaking Benjamin. They sound like a hybrid of those two bands and aren’t original or fun to listen to at all. I guess I can see why some may like them but I just find them generic. I agree with the review and comparisons to other generic rock bands.
Zach…even Kristian Stanfill had one really good song…
I have seen Red live twice now. And they are a amazing live band. I really like both of their cd’s. I see allot of comments on their myspace from people that have not herd of them or seen them before only to comment on how they blew away bands like Breaking Benjamin, Seether and 3DG. Kind of wierd for a generic hybrid band. Their songs all have great meaning to them and are all positive messages for the listeners. But to each their own opinion’s.
I haven’t heard this album, yet, but the review sounds a lot like my opinion of their last album. They do what they do really well, but it just…it’s been done so many times before, about 4 or 5 years ago. I saw them at Purple Door in 2007, and I wasn’t impressed with their live show either. I think they were at main stage and there weren’t any other active stages at that time. Then again, it’s hard to impress when you see As Cities Burn, Norma Jean, and MewithoutYou in the same weekend.
i really enjoyed this release, but i found myself feeling rather depressed during their slow songs.
For me, I&I is a [7/10] or [8/10]. While I understand what the review is saying and I kinda agree that this album lacks in oriniality, I still enjoy it a LOT. So maybe that’s saying more about me than about the album, but then [4/10] is really, really harsh.
yeah, we should switch up our scoring explanation/system.
I feel as though Red is an excellent band for their genre, just like the movie “Taken” is an excellent movie for it’s genre. No, it may not be a “Benjamin Button’, but that’s the not the genre of the movie…it’s straight, to the point action. I feel the same about Red and Innocence and Instinct. they get to the point, and they sound good doing it.
The funny thing is I was planning on reviewing this and was going to score it like 5/10. It’s just boring, uninspiring and sounds like a dozen general market bands who’ve been doing it longer. Not to say it’s not enjoyable which it can be at times, though I just feel they could have pushed themselves a little more that’s all.
i say keep the scoring system…i was just reading “How Body Piercing Saved My Life” and thought it was funny when he pointed out that a particular magazine had a sliding scale from A- to B+ and thought of some of our reviews (including some of my early reviews) and think its ridiculous to think that every album that i review is in the top 80% of all albums. i mean, when you compare this album to emery’s album there is no way that it should be with five numbers of it :)
I agree about the 1-10 scoring but what I made a point about earlier are the ‘explanations’ for the scores. They don’t really flow well with the scores: (to me ‘not great but not garbage’ is kinda like saying ‘fairly good/solid’ :)
1. Destined for trashcan
2. Predestined for ebay
3. Very few redeeming qualities
4. Not great but not garbage
5. Middle of the road
6. Mildly entertaining
7. Fairly good
8. Solid
9. Must Buy
10. Album of the Year
benjamin button=red, so then = meh
Some love this band and this record and have the right to. It’s just that it’s not better than their previous work that was original in the sense that it was at the time the only Christian band that was playing that kind of music.
But, as i wrote on my review, when your best song is a cover (their version of Duran Duran’s Ordinary World is killer), then there’s something wrong.
I agree that they aren’t the most original band out there right now, but what they do they do very well! plus alot of their lyrics are pretty awesome(at least on their new album) They’re definitely my fav band in this genre!
I agree with fusse about the ratings scale… The mid range ratings need to have more clarity/flow. (specifically #4 and #6) I actually created most of the ratings as a joke on the forums, having no idea that Brandon would actually adopt it for the main page (lol). What say you, Brandon?
Whatever you guys decide is the best ratings system, I’ll sign off on.
How about just 1/10? And then how about making a calculation form, like Lyrics, Originality, Cohesiveness, Length of Significance, Production Value, etc? And then average those for a final score….That way a band that way reviewers are forced to ask themselves questions like “is this band anything above average [5/10] lyrically? Is the album good a whole, instead of just individual random diddies? Does this band do anything new?
Essentially, it’s force the reviewers to at least ask themselves objective questions and get past their own personal tastes a bias towards lyrical matter, etc…
For example…on the new mwY, I would vote:
lyrics: 9/10
originality: 8/10
cohesiveness: 8/10
length of significance: 7/10 (great album, but not as seminal as Brother, Son was)
production value: 7/10
OVERALL: 7.8/10
It’s a great album to me, but forced to analyze this more, I’m more conservative with a rating, and is probably more relevant overall. Certainly my affect would place it at 9/10, but quite visibly, many people are disappointed with this one. A 7.8 is probably a better rating in this case. A 10/10, IMHO, should turning heads from people even outside the scene….A 10/10 is a classic…Not simply a pretty ok album produced by Aaron Sprinkle, which is a “Christian substitute” for some secular band, and is titled ‘The Art of __________’.
To call this album “boring and uninspiring” is just plain cruel. Sure they may not win a Grammy for most amazing songwriting, but in my opinion it’s still above average. I think Orchestral Rock is one of the most underrated genres out there. When I picked up the new album, I was hoping I would get a little something more than their debut album (Not to say their first wasn’t awesome, but lets be honest. We always want bands to improve on the next record). When I first listened this disc, it related to me so much with where I was in my relationship with God. I also admired how Red went with a theme with this album. The songs reflect both good and evil, light and dark, and the flesh vs. the Spirit. This album basically helped me in my journey to get right with God.
I really liked what Quincy proposed as an alternative to grading/explanation. Some people (like me) value certain aspects over others when it comes to music. For example, I might be willing to sacrifice a little originality if the lyrics were great and the production quality was fantastic. But if an album receives a 3/10 simply because they weren’t original Im likely to skim over it and miss out on a band I would otherwise truly like.